Huawei FreeClip review - Open-ear headphones with an innovative design

The Huawei FreeClip is available in the colors purple and black. The purple version actually has more of a pearly, shimmering surface with a purple accent, while the black version is more of a silvery anthracite. Thanks to the matt surfaces, they are definitely resistant to dirt.

The workmanship is convincing in the test, and the C-bridge also appears very solid and yet flexible. Although it is encased in a rubber-like plastic, underneath is a nickel-titanium alloy, which is not only very flexible but also always returns the two elements to the same distance. As a result, this remains at what Huawei describes as an optimum hearing comfort curvature of 11.4 degrees. The clamping force is said to be 0.15 newtons.

It all sounds very technical, but works very reliably in everyday use. The C-bridge connects the two other elements: the comfort bean and the acoustic ball. The latter houses a microphone, the VPU bone sensor (VPU: Voice Pick Up), and the speaker, while the bean, which is worn behind the ear, contains the battery and a wind-protected microphone. In the test, the C-bridge can also be bent backward by 270 degrees without any problems; when it is then released, it snaps back into its original position. If you try this out, you should watch your fingers.

There is no need to get used to putting on the Huawei FreeClip, the earphones slide naturally onto the ear and stay securely in place even during sporty movements. When wearing them, you quickly forget that the FreeClip are there, and there is no feeling of pressure even after wearing them for several hours.

The Huawei FreeClip are IP54-certified and therefore protected against the ingress of harmful amounts of dust and splash water.

The Huawei FreeClip uses the same drivers as the FreeBuds 5 and the chipset from the Eyewear II, but they achieve a much better sound, which has more to offer, especially in the mid and lower frequency ranges, and therefore sounds fuller and more immersive in the ear. This is also pretty close to the Shokz OpenFit but these have a more powerful bass and therefore more depth. Nevertheless, Huawei also achieves really good multimedia sound considering the size. By inverting the sound waves, the sound is not only emitted directly into the ear but also hardly anything penetrates the environment.

Functions such as HearThrough or ANC are not on board. However, this is not surprising, as the former is superfluous due to the open-wearing style, as the surroundings remain fully audible at all times. The lack of ANC can also be explained by the design, but it is still an important feature when traveling.

Unfortunately, we cannot confirm the "crystal-clear calls" promised by Huawei. In fact, the call partners are very easy to understand, but the FreeClip user is a little scratchy to noisy. We would have expected this to be clearer. The positive surprise, however, is that this quality is very consistent, and even loud background noise is very reliably eliminated by the AI. Even in windy conditions, the FreeClip user's voice remains easy to understand.

THD (Total Harmonic Distortion): Harmonic distortion quantifies the distortion caused by non-linear components (harmonic content) in relation to the original signal. THD specifically refers to the fundamental component. It's important to note that while the term "distortion factor" is often used interchangeably, it actually refers to the overall signal, not just the fundamental component.
THD+N (Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise): This value is comparable to THD, but in addition to measuring the interference power of harmonics, it also takes into account the impact of noise as an effective value. For the measurement, a low harmonic sinusoidal signal (typically at 1 kHz and > 0 dB) is played back through the headphones under test. This signal is then recorded by a linear measuring microphone (placed at a measuring distance of approximately 0.40 inches) in an artificial head.

Both THD and THD+N values are expressed as percentages. The lower the value, the higher the fidelity of the signal.

The batteries in the earphones of the Huawei FreeClip each have a capacity of 55 mAh and showed a very high endurance of almost nine and a half hours in our runtime test with an adjusted volume of 65 dB(A), which even exceeds Huawei's specification (eight hours).

Ten minutes of charging should be enough for up to three hours of playtime. The charging case can be charged via the integrated USB-C port or wirelessly (Qi).

The FreeClip is initially only available directly from Huawei.

Anyone who orders by 31.01.2024 will receive a Huawei Band 8 free of charge.